A third individual in the U.S. has self-immolated in protest against Israel’s war on Gaza, which is currently under scrutiny for possible genocide at the World Court. The protest is also aimed at the U.S.’s role in the death of over 41,000 Palestinians.
Largely overlooked by the mainstream U.S. media, a man named Matt Nelson set himself on fire near the Israeli Consulate in Boston at approximately 8:15 pm local time on Wednesday, September 11.
“My name is Matt Nelson and I’m about to enter into an extreme form of protest,” he declared in a video first posted on YouTube on Wednesday. “We are all responsible for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
“We are bound by capitalism and the military-industrial complex. Most of us are too indifferent to care,” Nelson went on. “The protest I’m about to partake in urges our government to quit providing Israel with the funds and weapons it employs to incarcerate and kill innocent Palestinians, to compel Israel to put an end to the genocide in Gaza, and to back the [International Criminal Court] accusation of [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli government.”
“A democracy is designed to cater to the people’s will, not the desires of the rich,” he concluded. “Regain control. Liberate Palestine.”
According to NBC Boston, initial responders confirmed a man sustained severe burn injuries. There is no update on Nelson’s current health status.
NBC Boston and other local media faced criticism via social media. Critics pointed out that the media outlets decided to refer to the incident’s location as “outside the Four Seasons Hotel” rather than by the Israeli Consulate.
Nelson is the third known person to have self-immolated in U.S. protests related to Gaza since October.
On December 1, an unidentified woman carrying a Palestinian flag was critically injured after setting herself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta. The police described it as an “act of extreme political protest.” Israeli Consul-General Anat Sultan-Dadon labeled it as an act of “hatred and incitement against Israel.”
Then, on February 25, an incident that attracted global attention occurred when Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old active-duty U.S. airman, drenched himself in a flammable liquid, wore his service hat, and set himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.
As he burned, Bushnell repeatedly yelled “Free Palestine”. Secret Service agents swiftly arrived at the scene, with one of them drawing his gun and pointing it at the burning man, commanding him to “get on the ground, you jerk.”
As Bushnell screamed and twisted in pain, he managed to utter one final, muffled, but clear “free Palestine” before his body was consumed by the flames. He succumbed to his injuries later that day.
